Milestone

Just reached 1003 page views! Wow! That was a bit of a shock, but I'm really excited to have reached 4 digits! Thanks everyone!

Mushrooms

This poem is one that I did in high school, which I really liked. Now I'm writing an essay on Sylvia Plath, and I thought of this poem again. I really like it.

Mushrooms

Sylvia Plath

Overnight, very
Whitely, discreetly,
Very quietly

Our toes, our noses
Take hold on the loam,
Acquire the air.

Nobody sees us,
Stops us, betrays us;
The small grains make room.

Soft fists insist on
Heaving the needles,
The leafy bedding,

Even the paving.
Our hammers, our rams,
Earless and eyeless,

Perfectly voiceless,
Widen the crannies,
Shoulder through holes. We

Diet on water,
On crumbs of shadow,
Bland-mannered, asking

Little or nothing.
So many of us!
So many of us!

We are shelves, we are
Tables, we are meek,
We are edible,

Nudgers and shovers
In spite of ourselves.
Our kind multiplies:

We shall by morning
Inherit the earth.
Our foot's in the door.

2 German poems and 1 English

A couple of German poems that I really like, and one English poem:

Mondnacht

Eichendorff

Es war, als hätt' der Himmel,
Die Erde still geküßt,
Daß sie im Blütenschimmer
Von ihm nun träumen müßt.

Die Luft ging durch die Felder,
Die Ähren wogten sacht,
Es rauschten leis die Wälder,
So sternklar war die Nacht.

Und meine Seele spannte
Weit ihre Flügel aus,
Flog durch die stillen Lande,
Als flöge sie nach Haus.

Vereinsamt

Friedrich Nietzsche

Die Krähen schrein
Und ziehen schwirren Flugs zur Stadt:
Bald wird es schnein, -
Wohl dem, der jetzt noch - Heimat hat!
Nun stehst du starr,
Schaust rückwärts, ach! wie lange schon!
Was bist du Narr
Vor Winters in die Welt entflohn?

Die Welt - ein Tor
Zu tausend Wüsten stumm und kalt!
Wer das verlor,
Was du verlorst, macht nirgends Halt.

Nun stehst du bleich,
Zur Winter-Wanderschaft verflucht,
Dem Rauche gleich,
Der stets nach kältern Himmeln sucht.

Flieg, Vogel, schnarr
Dein Lied im Wüstenvogel-Ton! -
Versteck, du Narr,
Dein blutend Herz in Eis und Hohn!

Die Krähen schrein
Und ziehen schwirren Flugs zur Stadt:
Bald wird es schein, -
Weh dem, der keine Heimat hat!

Paradoxes and Oxymorons

John Ashbery

This poem is concerned with language on a very plain level.
Look at it talking to you. You look out a window
Or pretend to fidget. You have it but you don’t have it.
You miss it, it misses you. You miss each other.

The poem is sad because it wants to be yours, and cannot.
What’s a plain level? It is that and other things,
Bringing a system of them into play. Play?
Well, actually, yes, but I consider play to be

A deeper outside thing, a dreamed role-pattern,
As in the division of grace these long August days
Without proof. Open-ended. And before you know
It gets lost in the steam and chatter of typewriters.

It has been played once more. I think you exist only
To tease me into doing it, on your level, and then you aren’t there
Or have adopted a different attitude. And the poem
Has set me softly down beside you. The poem is you.

England and other fun stuff

I realise that my blog posts are very irregular, and that they may not be the most reliable way to keep up to date about my life, so here is an attempt to let you know what has been happening over the last few months. In June, I went and visited England. It was my first time overseas, and was a lot of fun! I really enjoyed it, and it was pure excitement for me! It's funny, because I sort of imagined that it would feel like this huge change for me, that I'd need to make this huge adjustment, but it just felt completely natural being there. I really enjoyed my 5 weeks there, seeing all of my family that I've missed for so long, and getting to experience another country about which I've read so much. My highlights were going to see the Phantom of the Opera on West End, and going to the London temple. It was absolutely beautiful there, and they held a session especially for me!

Me at the Fashion Museum in Bath, dressed in Victorian clothes. The corset was shockingly tight, but it was amazing how quickly I got used to it and actually felt comfortable! When I took it off I actually felt kind of exposed... it was a weird feeling! Anyway, I think the Victorian look suits me :)

This is me playing what was probably Jane Austen's piano, at the Jane Austen House Museum. They can't be absolutely sure that this was her piano, but considering how rare it was for people at the time to own one, it is a very good chance that this did belong to her family. It was very exciting for me to play on the very same instrument that one of my favourite writers, who lived so long ago, is likely to have played on!

Here I'm at the visitors' center at the London Temple.  This was a truly magical experience for me!

When I got back from England, I had to get straight back into varsity mode, although it was difficult with my Intervarsity competition right around the corner! I found myself practicing in all of my spare moments, preparing for the exciting moment that I'd get to compete in Pretoria. The weekend that we went away was lots of fun, and the bus ride was very enjoyable, despite it being so long. When we arrived in Pretoria, we were all pretty tired, but amped up about the weekend, prepared for dancing to our hearts' content! I didn't get very far in any of my sections, except for ballroom, in which I made it to semi-finals, but it was still tons of fun! We won the team cup, the spirit cup, and the team-dancing cup. It was exciting bring them all back home again. (Unfortunately I don't have any Intervarsity pictures available to put up, because I've disabled my Facebook account until after exams.)

After Intervarsity weekend, I managed to focus again on my work. I had a lot of work to do, and lots of reading! But I still managed to find time to go and do a photo shoot with a friend of mine. Here are a couple of photos:

This one was actually taken one they were still busy figuring out which lenses to use and stuff. There are a few on Facebook of my friend and me both sitting here, which people can see once I go back on.

 We did it at Rhodes Memorial, just above UCT, and I got to wear my new yellow dress, which I absolutely adore! It looks like it comes right out of the sixties! The ribbon in my hair I already owned, and suddenly remembered on the day that I had it lying around, and that it matched the dress perfectly. So I put that in. My hair looks red because I decided to temporarily go auburn, with a non-permanent dye. I really liked it, and will probably do it again sometime.

Then, of course, there's the reason why I haven't been able to do much dancing lately: I hurt my foot. Well, I actually cracked the bone. I was burning my English notes after my mid-term exam, because I didn't want to ever look at them again (the one book we wrote on was really terrible), and Richard put some concrete slabs up around the flames to protect it from the wind, and to prevent ashes from spreading. When he found a spider on his leg, however, he got a fright and, in his attempt to get it off, knocked over the slab, which fell onto my foot. We didn't go for x-rays, because mom told me that the doctors wouldn't be able to do much anyway, because of where in the foot it is. We've since discovered that it was definitely cracked, because it's developed a bump of some sort where it's healing, which is apparently what happens when there's been a crack.

Anyway, I can't really think of much else to share... To be honest, I should be busy doing an assignment right now, but I don't have the right notes with me for it, and my other assignment that I need to work on is based on an interview which is saved on my home laptop, and I don't have it available right now. Oh well... I guess I'll just have to do it when I get home.

This evening I was at ballroom dancing at UCT, and about 5 minutes before I'd planned on leaving to go home, this random guy walked past and looked very confused. I went over to him, since I wasn't dancing at the time, and asked if he was interested in dancing (this week was Plaza Week at UCT, so I've been doing a lot of promoting for the society). He said that he was actually looking for the gymnastics club, and didn't know where to go because he was new to Cape Town. I asked a few other people, who tried calling friends, we tried looking it up on the Internet, and finally I decided to look with him since I was already planning on leaving around then.

I drove him down to the Sports Center, Lower Campus, and to the dancing studios.  We found absolutely nothing. Finally, it was nine o'clock, and so he said they'd already be finished their class, and that I could just drop him off at the Jammie Stop and he'd take a Jammie Shuttle into town. I said that it was fine, and that I could take him. He seemed so shocked. He said that I was so kind, and that he hadn't come around any people as kind as me since he got to Cape Town. The thing is, though, that I didn't even realise I was being particularly kind. I was just trying to help this poor Namibian boy who speaks mainly German, and very little English. It seemed natural to me. And it got me thinking about how, when we've been brought up in a specific way, and that's what we've seen growing up, we don't even realise that it's different to most other people. All I can say is that I'm grateful to have been brought up being kind and considerate, and I'm especially glad to have found friends who feel the same desire to help people as I do.

The Phantom of the Opera

Ever since I was about fourteen years old, I have loved the Phantom of the Opera. I first listened to the soundtrack with Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford. Then I watched the movie (Emmy Rossum, Gerard Butler and Patrick Wilson). I loved the movie so much that I promptly made it a part of my DVD collection. Then, about 3 years ago, I received The Phantom of the Opera music book for Christmas from my dad. I'm sure that I do not need to say how much joy this brought to my life. I can't count the number of times that I have sat down at the piano and just played my beloved Phantom of the Opera music. There was, however, always one thing missing from my Phantom experiences: I had never seen it live.

Well, all that changed tonight. When I discovered that The Phantom was to be performed in Cape Town, I immediately bought tickets... That was in about May. I waited for what seemed like forever to finally have my dream fulfilled and see this amazing musical live.

Tonight was finally the night. I waited with eager anticipation for the time to go and see it. Unfortunately, we arrived late, and so were unable to watch the introduction. And, as we walked in during the Overture, the chandelier dropped in the middle of it being raised to the ceiling, to meet its former majesty. After about forty five minutes of trying to fix the thing, we were able to go back in and continue watching. Within seconds, we had all forgotten the unfortunate beginning, and were so entranced with the music and special effects that we could think of nothing else. It was, in a word, sublime. (Anybody who knows where in the musical that's from is awesome!)

I didn't enjoy the actress playing Christine very much. She seemed too mature for the role and lacked all of the innocence that a sixteen year old should have. Her voice was too harsh, in my opinion, and often sounded detached and angry. This was the one downside to it. I wish with all my heart that we could have seen a younger, more innocent Christine. Unfortunately, we didn't. But it did not ruin the night.

Raoul was played by a guy who sang in the UCT Singers with me last year (then known as the SACM Choir). He was very good, and he managed to lift whatever scene he was playing in with his strong voice, and I might add, his attractive face. He suited the role very well, despite only being the understudy. His voice was full, and he held a look of adoration for Christine in his eyes. Very well done.

The prize must, however, go to Jonathan Roxmouth, for his stirring performance of the Phantom. The actor who has played roles such as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast, and one of the awesome cats in Cats, as well as having performed in things like A Handful of Keys, managed to successfully portray the character of a man who has been defeated by everything in life. From a young age, the Phantom has been despised and shut out from the world. The only person who ever showed any compassion towards him was Madame Giry. The pain of such a life as was led by the Phantom was felt by all as he sang the Reprise to All I Ask Of You. "I gave you your freedom; made your song take wing. And now, how you've repaid me: denied me and betrayed me." I was fighting to hold back sobs in this scene. He seemed to be taking on all the pains of the world, and it was impossible not to feel that as an audience. His portrayal of the phantom led to an immense compassion and empathy towards his character, despite the terrible things he has done. Rather than resenting his violent nature, the pain expressed so openly by Jonathan Roxmouth enables the audience to capture an understanding of why he is like that. A brilliant performance!

Unfortunately, because of the technical problems experienced at the beginning of the show with the chandelier, we did not get to see it falling after Don Juan Triumphant. Even with that knowledge, I could not wish for a better performance. The emotions I felt whilst watching it and listening to it were so real that I cried more than once. At the end of the Phantom's rendition of The Music of the Night, I could barely breathe. It was amazing. Phenomenal. Superb.

It was, in a word, sublime.

Making scary adjustments

Ever since I got my drivers licence, I have always been the one who has given everybody lifts, gone outrageously out of my way, and have always been able to go out. Now, both of our cars are broken and I'm left without any transport. I am now forced to ask other people for lifts, and I am unable to go out unless my friends are able to lift me. It's amazing how, although I used to not worry about giving people lifts, no matter how far I had to drive, I now feel so bad asking other people. I know I really should not feel bad at all. But I can't help it.

All I can say is that I'm going crazy being stuck at home all day... Just want to get out!